Turin (Italy). On 16 November 2025, more than 170 members of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), from various locations in Italy—Verona, Arese, Brescia, San Benigno, Tivoli, and Rome—as well as some candidates to make the Promise, gathered in Valdocco, Turin, to celebrate ADMA’s Marian Day. The gathering was attended by the World Spiritual Animator, Sister Lucrecia Uribe, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, and Father Gabriel De Jesús Cruz Trejo, SDB.
The day began with the prayer of lauds. Father Leonardo Mancini, Superior of the Salesian Special District of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, then addressed the gathering, focusing on the theme of Faith, central to the 2025-2026 formation journey. He emphasized “the evident rift between faith and reason in society today; they are separate levels that contradict each other.”
Fr. Leonardo indicated that one educational path is to “foster dialogue between the two dimensions, so as not to form schizophrenic people and to respect God’s plan. There are two paths to follow. The first would be to experience moments of deep and open prayer, moments connected to life. The second is to choose to encounter the face of the other, to choose direct relationships, to encounter the face of the poor and to become companions on the journey. We are called to testify that encounter is possible.”
He then referred to the faith of Don Bosco, who considered faith and prayer the “weapons” of every Christian, their support, because faith nourishes the relationship with God.
Afterward, Father Roberto Carelli, SDB, presented the monthly meditation on the theme “Faith and Indifference,” defining faith as “the fundamental condition for true belief, because it allows us to have the same faith as Jesus, the same determination and the same courage in lovingly surrendering ourselves to the Father.”
At the end of the meditation, there was a prolonged time for Eucharistic Adoration, which concluded with a lunch shared among the families.
In the afternoon, after the Rosary, the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Father Michele Molinar, Vicar of the District, was the occasion to welcome the promises of the new ADMA members, 30 adults who have completed their initial formation journey and expressed their determination to belong to the Marian Association founded by Don Bosco in 1869.
Once again, this Day, celebrated annually, allowed children and young people in particular to receive the authentic testimony of parents, adults, consecrated persons, and lay people, who make clear the Marian spiritual journey lived in a Salesian atmosphere.
